Mamata Banerjee will be filing her nomination from Nandigram today, where she will be contesting against Suvendu Adhikari in the upcoming assembly elections.
Notably, Suvendu Adhikari is the current MLA from Nandigram. He was once a close aide of Banerjee and a prominent TMC leader but switched to BJP in December, last year.
The incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) has announced the list of 291 candidates and left three seats for its ally Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM).
Addressing a press conference, Banerjee said she will contest from Nandigram and not from the Bhowanipore constituency, from where she has been the sitting MLA since 2011.
“We are the first political party to announce the candidate list. Today, we are releasing a list of 291 candidates, which includes 50 women, 79 SCs, 17 STs and 42 Muslim candidates. On three seats of north Bengal, we are not putting up our candidates. In three seats — Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong — Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) will contest the elections and whoever wins will support us,” she informed.
“I will contest from Nandigram as I stick to my words. From Bhowanipore constituency, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay will be contesting in the upcoming Assembly elections,” she added.
Several BJP leaders took to Twitter to criticize Mamata’s move to fight the elections from Nandigram and claimed that she is “scared.”
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Nandigram is important for the TMC as nearly 14 years ago after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) government decided to build a special economic zone (SEZ) in Nandigram, a movement sprung out from the area. Several villagers who needed those lands for agriculture were angered by the move.
The district saw several incidents of violence in 2007, but the killing of 14 unarmed villagers in Nandigram in police firing on March 27 led to harsh criticism of the Left Front government. It was then that Mamata sprang into action along with her party and started the Nandigram movement. The movement damaged the image of the Left Front government and eventually lead to its fall.
The Nandigram movement became a significant matter for the Trinamool Congress for contesting the state elections. The TMC fought the elections on the promise of giving back the rights and lands of people. Significant to note, Suvendu Adhikari also accompanied Banerjee in the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram and played a key role in expanding the party’s base in West Midnapore, Purulia, and Bankura.
With its “pro-people politics,” the Trinamool Congress won the panchayat elections in 2008, Lok Sabha elections in 2009, municipal polls in 2010, and lead to the fall of the Left Front government from power in the 2011 elections after registering a massive victory.
West Bengal Assembly elections will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes in the state will take place on May 2.
(With ANI Inputs)